OLIVER CROMWELL 

WHAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
OWES HIS MEMORY 



BY 

ANNETTE K. LOVEDAY HOWARD 

(MRS. HAMILTON GAY HOWARD) 




OLIVER CROMWELL 



OLIVEK CROMWELL 

WARRIOR, STATESMAN, AND RULER 

WHAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
OWES HIS MEMORY 

BY 

ANNETTE K. LOVEDAY HOWARD 

(MRS. HAMILTON GAY HOWARD) 

A Lineal Descendant 







Copyright 1919 

By 

Annette R. Loveday Howard 



CU531726 








ORIGINAL AND AUTHENTIC DEATH-MASK OF OLIVER CROMWELL, 
IN POSSESSION OF THE AUTHOR. IN SAN DIEGO. CALIFORNIA. DU- 
PLICATE IN BRITISH MUSEUM. LONDON. ENGLAND. SEE PAGE 34. 



FOREWORD 

While on a visit at the little Cathedral town of 
Lincoln, England, with my husband a few years 
ago, we encountered one of its proverbial "wet- 
summers" for the first time; born in England 1 had, 
many occasions previously, visited there after my 
father had brought his family to this country. I 
had, therefore, abundance of indoor leisure to 
peruse some of the rare literary works in my 
cousin's library, and because of my lineal descent, 
naturally became interested again in the Life and 
Works of Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, "the 
strongest and terriblest of all Englishmen", as Car- 
lyle writes, making full notes from the authentic 
volumes in it, and which largely compose this 
little tribute to the memory of that great man who 
paved the way, some three hundred years ago, for 
the creation of this, my glorious adopted country, 
'The United States of America", by establishing 
"The COMMONWEALTH of England, Scot- 
land and Ireland", as a noble precedent. 

CROMWELL and WASHINGTON ! 
ALL HAIL! 

"Achasta" A. L. H. 

Inspiration Heights 

San Diego, California, U. S. A. 




LORD PROTECTOR OLIVER CROMWELL 
(FROM THE NATIONAL PORTRAITS GALLERY. LONDON. ENGLAND. 
SEE PAGE 34) 




Oldest Link oetween Britain and America— 



LIVER CROMWELL, 

'"LORD -PROTECTOR OF THE COM- 
MONWEALTH OF ENGLAND, SCOT 
LAND AND IRELAND", was born at 
Huntingdon, England, on the twenty-fifth 
day of April, 1599, and was the son of 
Honorable Robert Cromwell, Member of 
Parliament for Huntingdon in 1593, and of 
Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of Sir Richard Stuart. ' He 
was named after his uncle and godfather, Sir Oliver 
Cromwell. His father, Robert Cromwell, second 
son of Sir Henry Cromwell of Hichinbroke, was a 
gentleman of good family and moderate estate, who 
lived a rural life and cultivated his own lands. 

Robert's sister, Elizabeth Cromwell, was the mother 
of John Hampden — one of the founders of the colony 
of Connecticut — who was the head of a Bucking- 
hamshire family of great wealth and consideration that 
could trace back their geneology to a period before the 
Roman Conquest. John Hampden, known as the 
"Firebrand of the English Revolution/' and Oliver 
Cromwell were therefore first cousins. 

Of Oliver's early life not much is known with any 
degree of certainty. He appears to have lived at home, 



and to have received his education at a Presbyterian 
school in the district, after which he attended "Sydney 
College" at Cambridge University, and pursued his 
studies there from April 23d, 1616, to June 23d, 1617, 
his father dying, and he then returned to Huntingdon. 

At the age of twenty-one, August 2 2d, 1620, he 
married Elizabeth Bouchier, daughter of Sir James 
Bouchier, who brought him a certain amount of dower. 
Whether from the influence of the rather ascetic re- 
ligion that prevailed among the Puritans — (asceticism 
being a common feature where persecution has pre- 
viously prevailed) — or from the influence of the low- 
lying marsh-lands which generated malignant malaria, 
certain it is that Cromwell fell into hypochondria and 
melancholy, and indulged in the practice of sending for 
Dr. Simcott in the middle of the night, fearing he was 
about to die. 

He was elected to serve in parliament for the bor- 
ough of Huntingdon in 1628, being then twenty-eight 
years old, and there in January, 1629, when the 
House of Commons had resolved itself into a commit- 
tee on religion/ Cromwell informed it of the Bishop of 
Winchester countenancing "Arminianism", so-called, 
as contradistinguished from the "predestinationism" of 
"Calvinism", the former not being "the real thing" in 
Puritanism. Steps would probably have been taken 
against the bishop notwithstanding the prohibition of 
the king, but on the second of March, 1629; the House 
adjourned. On the fifth, warrants were issued for the 



10 



apprehension of some of the riotous members, and on 
the tenth parliament was dissolved. - No parliament 
was held for twelve years afterward, the king govern- 
ing by prerogative, and Cromwell returned to the 
country to ruminate. 

In 1631 he sold his property at Huntingdon and 
bought a grazing farm at St. Ives, and in 1636, by the 
death of his maternal uncle, Sir Thomas Stuart, he be- 
came possessed of an estate in the Isle of Ely valued at 
near $2,500.00 a year, engaged vigorously in local pol- 
itics, and earned for himself the title of "Lord of the 
Fens". • To the short parliament which met in April 
1640, he was returned for the University town of 
Cambridge in opposition to the court candidate, but the 
commons instead of voting supplies began to debate of 
grievances, monopolies, ship-money, star chambers, 
high commission, breach of their privileges, innovation 
in religion, and other matters too stimulating for the 
taste of the king, who on the fifth of May, 1640, dis- 
solved parliament and committed several members to 
"the Fleet," the name of a well-known prison of the 
day. 

The affairs of the kingdom, however, were rapidly 
getting into confusion, and a new parliament was indis- 
pensable. It met in November, 1640, and is known in 
history as the famous "Long Parliament". To this also 
Cromwell was returned for the scholastic town of 
Cambridge. To trace Cromwell's after- proceedings a 
word must be said on King Charles the First's dispute 



11 



with parliament. The parliament which had met in 
March, 1628, had presented a "Petition of Right" — 
to the king, praying — (for the following American 
Revolutionary rights subsequently attained about 150 
years later) — 

First, that no loan or tax might be levied but by con- 
sent of Parliament. 

Second, that no man might be imprisoned but by le- 
gal process. 

Third, that soldiers might not be quartered on people 
against their wills. 

Fourth, that no commissions might be granted for 
executing martial law. 

To these the king answered, "I will that right be 
done according to the laws and customs of the realm." 
This reply, however, was not satisfactory, and both 
Houses addressed the king for a more definite settle- 
ment of the laws of the kingdom. 

In June, 1628, Charles gave answer in due form as 
follows, — "Soit droit fait comme il est desire", thereby 
converting the Petition into a law of the realm, and 
definitely agreeing that no loan or taxes should be levied 
but by consent of parliament. The principle had been 
infringed, and Hampden, who at his own risk and 
cost tried the case against the crown in 1638, was 
adjudged to pay shipmoney. 

The parliament that met in November, 1640, where 
Cromwell appeared very ordinarily appareled and 
without a hatband (a symbol of Democracy), pro- 



12 



ceeded to take up the question, and at once resolved 
that the levying of ship-money and the opinions of the 
judges upon it were illegal, — (possibly the first instance 
in history of the modern so-called "referendum" as 
applied to the judiciary). Pym, Hampden, Holies, and 
men of kindred stamp, were the radical leaders of this 
new parliament, and with them Cromwell cast in his 
lot, using his commanding though untunable voice to 
great service, and being, as Sir Philip Warwick ob- 
served, "very much hearkened unto." 

The Commons, in fact, urged on reforms with 
terrific haste. They impeached Archbishop Laud for 
(1) 'trying to alter the Protestant Religion into Popery" 
— (to use the exact language of the Articles of Im- 
peachment) — and (2) "to subvert the laws of the 
kingdom," — and placed him in custody preceding his 
execution. They threatened the judges and compelled 
them to give bail, — impeached Sir Robert Berkely, one 
of the judges, and actually took him off the bench in 
Westminster Hall, — passed a bill for triennial parlia- 
ments and another to abolish the Star Chamber, — 
voted the bishops out of parliament, — brought King 
Charles' chief counsellor, the Earl of Strafford, to trial 
for high treason and afterwards to "Tower Hill" for 
execution, — resolved that there should be no dissolution 
without consent of both Houses of Parliament, — and 
when the king attempted to apprehend the five mem- 
bers — Pym, Hampden, Holies, Hazelrig and Strode — 
they resolved that, — "Whoever should attempt to seize 



13 



any of their members or their papers, the members should 
stand on their defense", — thus anticipating by nearly 
fifty years (1689) "The Bill of Rights" passed by 
Parliament to the effect that "Taxation without repre- 
sentation is tyranny" — -the war-cry of the American 
Revolutionists in 1776, and which was a fundamental 
principle to maintain which the English people cut off 
the head of one king (Charles I) and sent another 
packing off to France. 

London was in a tumult. An armed multitude 
carried the five members in triumph to Westminster 
Hall, and four thousand mounted gentlemen and yeo- 
men from Buckinghamshire made their appearance to 
see that no wrong was done to their member, John 
Hampden. A Civil War was about to begin, and the 
King quitted Whitehall Palace not to again visit it 
except as a Captive. 

These proceedings had carried the parliament over 
rather more than a year. King Charles I and Court 
quitted Whitehall, the Royal Palace, on the 10th of 
January, 1642, and on the seventh of February, fol- 
lowing, Cromwell offered to lend $1,500.00, for the 
service of the Commonwealth, afterwards increased to 
$2,500.00. In August of the same year he was 
already on foot, doing active service, — says contempor- 
aneous history, "Mr. Cromwell in Cambridgeshire has 
seized the magazine of the Castle at Cambridge, and 
hath hindered the carrying off the plate from the 
University, which, as some report, is to the value of 



U 



Twenty Thousand Pounds ($100,000) or thereabouts." 
' In September, 1642, Cromwell began his Military 
Career at forty-three years of age/ Robert, Earl of Essex, 
was "Lord'general for King and Parliament", which 
meant for Parliament against the King, and William, 
Earl of Bedford, commanded the Cavalry, having or 
about to have seventy-five troops of sixty men each, — 
in every troop a Captain, a Lieutenant, a Cornet and a 
Quartermaster. In Troop 67, Oliver Cromwell, 
Member of Parliament for Cambridge, was Captain, 
and in Troop 8, another Oliver Cromwell — probably 
the eldest son, killed early in battle, and lost sight of in 
after history was Cornet. 

CROMWELL'S RISE IN THE SCALE 
OF MILITARY RANK WAS AS FOLLOWS 

In September, 1642, he was Captain, — in March, 
1643, he was Colonel. On the second of July, 1644, 
was fought the battle of "Marston Moor", at which, 
according to the newspapers of the time, "upon the 
left wing of Horse was the Earl of Manchester's 
whole Cavalry, under the command of Lieutenant-gen- 
eral Cromwell'' At this time General Cromwell was 
the first cavalry officer in England on the side of 
Parliament. This he was, not only in the estimate of 
the soldiers, but in the opinion of the then Sir Thomas 
Fairfax, — afterwards Lord Fairfax (whose lineal 
descendant is the only 'American Lord' in the British 
Parliament), — as also of the House of Commons. 



15 



Fairfax before the battle of "Nasby", wrote to the 
Commons requesting that Cromwell might be spared 
from his parliamentary duties, to command the whole 
of the cavalry. Fairfax, who had been rather worsted 
at "Marston Moor", and perhaps supposed that Crorrv 
well's success there depended on his command of 
cavalry, "has" says history, "resolved to decline the 
usual way of General, and to assume the command of 
Horse, and leave the Infantry to his Major in case 
Lieutenant-general Cromwell come not up in time". 

On the 14th of June, 1645, was fought the "Battle 
of Nasby", General Cromwell having arrived two 
days before only, — says history, — "amid shouts from 
the whole Army". As leader, he routed everything, 
seized the train and cannon of the royalists, took many 
prisoners, their standards, ensigns, seventy carriages 
and the King's own wagons, in one of them a cabinet 
of letters supposed to be of much consequence. In 
fact, Cromwell by his superb military skill and bravery, 
shivered the Royalist Army to atoms, and the King's 
cause was ruined beyond recovery. General Crom- 
well now stormed Bristol, Winchester and Basing- 
house, — finished the first Civil War, and handed 
England over to Parliament very much in the style of 
a conquered country, — for which he received the 
thanks of Parliament and a Grant of Two Thousand 
Pounds ($10,000.00) a year. 

In 1648 his military talents were again in requisition. 
He was in the north of Carlisle, Berwick and Edinburgh. 



16 



He was Commander-in-chief of the Army of Opera- 
tion but still remained only "Lieutenant-general." In 
December, 1648, he returned to London, and on the 
29th of January, 1649, he signed the death-warrant of 
Charles the first. 

His position at this period should be noted. Practically 
he was the foremost man in his country, but perhaps 
the only agency upon which he could thoroughly de- 
pend, was the Army, and even a portion of that was 
tinctured with doctrines subversive of military discipline. 
The Parliament contained all the elements of disunion, 
and without the army, was impotent. A legislative 
assembly that assumed also the executive power of the 
State, has commonly proved itself a failure, and 

GENERAL CROMWELL NOW BEGAN 

TO OCCUPY THE CHIEF POSITION IN THE 

EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT 

He was, however, surrounded by difficulties. After 
the death of the King, probably not more than one-half 
of England was on the side of the Parliament. Also, 
there was in England a party of Anarchy,— the "Red- 
Republicans" of that day, called "Levellers", who, 
had it not been for Cromwell's consummate ability and 
resolution, would have attained a much more prom- 
inent place in the history of England. 

Ireland, again, was completely in favor of the 
Stuarts, and Scotland had proclaimed Charles II as 
king immediately after the death of his father. General 



17 



Cromwell wisely began at home. He soon settled the 
"Levellers", and put out the smouldering fire of Social 
Anarchy like a man who neither trifled nor jested, be- 
ing almost the only thing Cromwell could not do. 
Having settled England he went to Ireland. On the 
22d of June, 1649, his commission was made out. 
This, however, arranged only the military part of the 
business. The Parliament then "considered of settling 
the civil power of the nation of Ireland," — whether by 
commission or otherwise. 

The House of Commons after a short debate, voted 
that Lieutenant-general Cromwell be Chief- governor 
of Ireland, and likewise that the civil and military 
power of that nation be settled on him during the time 
of his commission — three years. General Cromwell 
thus became "Lord-lieutenant of Ireland," With plenary 
power to do what he pleased in his own good judg- 
ment. What he did please to do was perhaps severe 
enough, — terrible knocking of everybody on the head 
when they resisted, under the belief that as stated by 
him, — "this bitterness will save much effusion of 
blood", — a belief verified in fact, and even in the 
opinion of those who have written against Cromwell. 
Drogheda (Tredah) and Wexford were taken by 
storm and the garrisons slaughtered. The example was 
successful, — the other towers surrendered upon easier 
terms. 

In nine months Ireland was subdued, and Cromwell, 
leaving his son-in-law, General Ireton, in command, 



18 



returned to England, was met in triumph at Hounslow 
Heath, and had the royal palace of St. James allotted 
for his residence. 

Soon after the death of the King, Prince Charles, 
who had taken refuge at The Hague, assumed the title 
of Charles II. In the spring of 1650, the commission- 
ers from Scotland negotiated with him at Breda. In 
June he repaired to Scotland, but before landing was 
obliged to undergo the process of taking "The 
Covenant," — i. e., "the renunciation of Popery," ad- 
herence to "the true religion" and the Presbyterian 
form of it, and "loyalty to the throne" — of Scotch 
origin. The Parliamentarians at once resolved to attack 
him, and General Fairfax ought, from his rank, to have 
taken the command, but the latter's wife, a Presby- 
terian, persuaded him to withdraw from public life, 
whereupon, says history, — "Oliver Cromwell, Esquire, 
was constituted Captain-general and commander-in-chief 
of all the forces raised or to be raised, by) authority of 
Parliament within the commonwealth of England. 
(June 26, 1650). 

CAMPAIGN IN SCOTLAND 

Captain-general Cromwell instantly proceeded to 
the work by virtue of his new commission. On the 
29th of June, three days after his appointment to the 
supreme command, he set out for Scotland. On the 
2 2d of July his army passed thru Berwick, thence to 
Cockburnpath, Dunbar, Haddington and Musselburg, 



19 



the Scottish Army under Gen. David Lesley lying be- 
tween Edinburgh and Lieth. Cromwell could not 
attack Lesley in his fastnesses, and in a fortnight he 
found that sickness and want of provisions compelled 
him to retreat. He fell back on Dunbar, Lesley follow- 
ing him at once. Cromwell was blocked up and 
surrounded, as he himself expressed it, — "at the pass 
at Copperspath, through which we cannot get without 
almost a miracle". 

His faith, however, did not fail him. "All shall 
work for good," he said, — "our spirits are comfortable, 
praised be the Lord". On the 2d of September (1650) 
he observed that Lesley was altering his position, com- 
ing down the hill and moving his left wing of cavalry 
over to his right wing, a dangerous experiment it 
would seem, in face of the Captain -general. A 
council of war was held. It was resolved not to wait 
for Lesley's attack, but before break of day to begin 
the battle of Dunbar. "The enemy's whole numbers," 
writes Cromwell, "were very great, almost six thou- 
sand horse and ten thousand foot at least, ours drawn 
down as to sound men to about seven thousand five 
hundred foot and three thousand five hundred horse." 
The enemy's' war-cry was "the Covenant", which it 
had been for divers days, — ours was "the Lord of 
hosts". 

In an hour the Captain-general utterly demolished 
the Presbyterian army, with a loss to his own, as he 
writes, of "about twenty or thirty men." (Sept. 3d, 1650) 



20 



From Dunbar Cromwell returned to Edinburgh to 
besiege the Castle, which was surrendered to him by 
Colonel Walter Dundas, the Governor, on the 24th of 
December. He remained in Scotland til! August, 1651. 
He had taken possession of Perth, and being thus to 
the north of the Scottish royal forces, which were 
stationed with Charles at their head at Stirling. 
Charles ventured a desperate game, a sort of double 
or quits for the whole stake that Cromwell had gained, 
and Charles had lost. Charles broke up his quarters 
and marched southward into England. On the 2 2d of 
August, 1651, the royal standard of Charles was raised 
at Worcester, England, and there on the 28th the hunv 
ble and praying "rebel" "Captain-general Cromwell" 
was front to front and ready for battle with the King, 
Charles the second. Cromwell went to work without 
delay, threw a bridge of boats over Severn, and 
another across the Teme. These boat-bridges were 
ready on the afternoon of the 3d of September (1651), 
the same day on which had been fought the Battle of 
Dunbar a year before, — "Whereupon", says contem- 
poraneous history, "the General presently commanded 
Colonel Ingleby's and Colonel Fairfax's regiments with 
part of his own regiment and the Life Guards and 
Colonel Hacker's regiment of horse, over the river — 
his excellency himself leading them in person, and being 
the first man to set foot on the enemy's ground.'' 

"The battle of Worcester" ended in a total rout, and 
about seven in the evening the king with various dukes, 



21 



earls and lords, fled from the city by St. Martin's gate 
to find a refuge with the Penderels, and to take shelter 
in the royal Oak and across the sea. Cromwell be- 
haved magnificently. "My Lord-general did exceedingly 
hazard himself, riding up and down in the midst of the 
shot, and riding himself in person to the enemy's foot, 
offering them quarter whereunto they returned no answer 
but shot, " says the historian. 

This was Cromwell's last battle, and the last oc- 
casion in which Scotland ever appeared in a national 
capacity. 

Scotland had gone to wreck with factions and 
dissentions, and her individuality as an independent 
kingdom had no longer a place in history. At Aylesburg 
on his return to London, Cromwell was met by a 
deputation from the House of Commons and Council 
of State. The superb castle, Hampton Court, built by 
Cardinal Wolsey for King Henry the Eighth, was 
prepared for Cromwell's residence, and an income of 
Four Thousand Pounds ($20,000) a year in addition 
to his fomer grant, was voted by Parliament to him. 

HIS MILITARY CAREER 

Let us biefly review Oliver Cromwell's Military 
Career. Nine years previously we found him an Eng- 
lish Squire, engaged in the cultivation of his lands — 
now we find him the incomparable soldier who has 
achieved in fair and open warfare the conquest of 



England, the conquest of Ireland, and the successful in- 
vasion and annexation of Scotland — and all this without 
anything that could be called a reverse! 

His progress was ever onward, forward, upward. 
However the fortunes of others might fluctuate, Crom- 
well was always making way, always driving 
definitely toward a single point, and that point, the 
supreme power. He was not only the man of 
supreme ability, but acknowledged to be so, the man 
to whom the nation Was obliged to apply, for he alone 
had the master-hand that could guide the ship of state 
through the storms, the troubles, the quicksands and the 
many dangers which on every side beset the republican 
commonwealth which he had virtually established. 

No sooner had the military operations terminated 
than it became necessary to settle the form of govern- 
ment in fact, and it was here, possibly, that Cromwell 
first allowed the ambition of personal aggrandizement to 
mix with what he conceived to be his duty to his 
country. The power was virtually in his own hand, 
the temptation very strong. If the nation had placed the 
Crown upon his head at this period, would he have 
allowed it to remain there without any question? 
No, — for he later positively refused to be crowned king* 
saying his conscience would not allow it. Parliament 
was jealous of his influence, and war with Holland 
once more withdrew attention from the settlement of 
the form of the nation's constitution. 

It was absolutely necessary, however, that there 



23 



should be an Executive Government, and Cromwell 
resolved to take the power into his own hands by 

FORCIBLE DISMISSAL OF 
THE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT 

He took a file of Dragoons, went down to the 
House of Commons, ordered the Speaker out of the 
Chair, told the members they had sat there long 
enough for all the good they had done, and waxing 
vehement, exclaimed, "You are no longer a parlia- 
ment; the Lord has done with you; he has chosen other 
instruments for carrying on his work". 

He told Vane, the brilliant orator, he was a jugler; 
Chaloner, that he was a drunkard; Allan, that he 
cheated the public; Masten and Wentworth, that 
they were exceeding improper persons; told one of 
his soldiers to "take away that fool's bauble," the Mace 
(symbol of the authority of the Speaker of the House) 
and finished by turning out the Members and locking 
the doors! This was on the 20th of April, 1653, and 
in July he summoned by his own authority, the — 

BAREBONES PARLIAMENT 

so-called from one "Praise- God Barebone," a leather 
seller of Fleet Street, London, who was one of the 
members. On the 12th of December, same year, the 
"Barebones Parliament" resolved to resign its power 
into the hands of Cromwell, and on the 16th of De- 
cember, 1653, the Captain-General became sovereign- 
ruler under the title of " Lord -protector of the 



2h 



commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland." The 
Decree of the Court of Chancery which established 
the protectorate was read in Westminster Hall with 
formal ceremonies, in presence of the Council of 
Officers, the Lord-Mayor and Aldermen, the Commis- 
sioners, and other officials. 

BY THE "INSTRUMENT QF GOVERNMENT" 
( as it was termed ) 

Cromwell was to call parliament every three years. 
He had also power to make war or peace, — he and 
his Council could make laws which should be binding 
during the intervals of parliament. By these provisions 
the government resembled an Autocracy. But, on the 
other hand, no parliament could be dissolved until it had 
sat five months, and bills passed in parliament were to 
become law after a lapse of twenty days, even if not 
confirmed. By these provisions the national government 
closely resembled — . 

A REPUBLIC WITH A PRESIDENT 

But inasmuch as Cromwell was Commander-in-Chief 
of the Army as well as first magistrate of the State, and 
the protectorship was elective, the real nature of the gov- 
ernment was that of a constitutional republic, with specif- 
ic limitations, somewhat of an antetype of our own 
federal system before the adoption of the U. S. 
Constitution. 

Civil and religious disputes could not fail to arise 



25 



regarding the authority and jurisdiction of the various 
powers in the State, and hence another step was still 
necessary to place the Protector on the highest summit. 
This issue came in the year 1657. 

In April of that year a committee of parliament 
mooted the question of £/ngs/irp and royal title. The 
republican officers in the Army, however, declared 
against the assumption, and Cromwell, himself, as 
already stated, was strongly and conscientiously op- 
posed to it and positively refused the bauble, for he 
was trying to establish a republican "commonwealth" as 
it was called. Cromwell declined the title for the 
reason as stated by himself, he "could not with a good 
conscience accept the government under the title of fang" 

Nevertheless, his powers were enlarged by a new 
instrument called 

"THE PETITION AND ADVICE" 

An annual sum of One Million, Three Hundred 
Thousand Pounds ($6,500,000) was allotted for the 
support of his government; he was empowered to 
create a Second Chamber or "Upper House," corres- 
ponding to the House of Lords or United States Senate, 
which, however, had only a brief existence, being 
dissolved by the Protector fourteen days after it had 
met; and he was also empowered to nominate his 
successor, the protectorate thereby ceasing to be elect- 
ive, and his "Excellency" becoming, to all intents, the 
Military and Civil Ruler of the realm, with powers 



26 



which a good man might use well, but which in other 
hands might be nothing short of an atrocious tyranny, 
more dangerous to the State than the despotism of the 
Stuarts, and absolutely intolerable to the people of 
England. His government was not a Monarchy in 
which the king reigned by law, with recognized rights 
and limitations of prerogative, but an autocracy, — 
military absolutism — converted into constitutional autoc- 
racy by the powers that had been formally conferred 
or were immediately assumed, and which were used 
without reserve against the cringing parliaments and 
the corrupt Courts of Law. 

CROMWELL AS A STATESMAN 

The Lord- Protector, as a Statesman, is one of the 
most unique character studies ever submitted to the 
scrutiny of the student of statecraft or political history. 
Unbiased history declares that England under his rule 
was unquestionably the strongest state in Europe, both 
on sea and land, and yet no sooner had he departed 
this life than it fell, as if by magic, into the utmost ex- 
tremity of immeasurable weakness. Its next monarch — 
Charles II — was a pensioner on the bounty of that 
magnificent Frenchman, King Louis XIV. In the field 
of war, Cromwell was everywhere triumphant, yet no 
sooner was he gone, than the military and naval oper- 
ations of England became puerile and ludicrous. 

Cromwell's flag, the red cross of St. George, swept 



27 



from the oceans every hostile banner. France, Hol- 
land and Spain were all humbled into maritime sub- 
mission, and the Barbary corsairs were scourged 
into good behavior; piracy was annihilated, and the 
naval supremacy of England was established as an 
unquestioned and indisputable fact. Yet Cromwell 
gone, and the Dutch Navy with impunity, sailed up the 
Thames and the Medway. 

THE MORALITY OF HIS COURT 

He had the most moral Court that had ever been 
known in the history of Europe, yet a few short years 
saw Vice unblushingly enthroned, and the silken shoe 
of the courtesan treading the halls that had echoed to 
the jackboots of Oliver Cromwell and his pious, 
invincible "Ironsides'. 

In Cromwell's time the judge sat in the magnificence 
of rectitude, and for the first time in the history of 
modern nations, JUSTICE was administered in the 
fear of LAW and of GOD. Yet our Hero gone, and 
Judge Jeffries the Monster springs from the pande- 
monium of the corrupted English Law. Everything 
seemed to decay and ferment into corruption. As if the 
force of gravity had been removed from the terrestrial 
economy, no sooner was the iron will of Cromwell 
removed from the "COMMONWEALTH" of Eng- 
land, than chaos, confusion and failure seemed to 
invade every department of the "KINGDOM" of 
England and every operation of the body politic. 



2H 



Defeat, disgrace and shame took the places of victory, 
honor and esteem, until the manhood of England was 
once more roused, and the last STUART in ignomin- 
ious flight took refuge with the neighbor nation whom 
Cromwell would have bearded with the sword. 

The contrast between England in the time of the 
PROTECTOR, and England in the time of Charles I 
and Charles II, the last Roman Catholic ruler, and 
James II (A. D. 1625 1688) is one of the most 
remarkable that has been recorded on the pages of 
History. Tragedy or Comedy, it is the strangest drama 
that has been played in England since the Saxon dy- 
nasty died out at Hastings, and England became the 
heritage of the feudal and punctilious Normans of 
Fiance. 

RELIGIOUS TOLEKATION 

Although Lord -Protector Cromwell failed to transmit 
a Constitution to England, he taught the great lesson of 
his dav the greatest lesson that England or the World 
has ever learned that of religious toleration. This 
was in (act his grand achievement the great and 
noble work which will ever weave around the brow 
of Oliver Cromwell a chaplet of unfading glory. 
OLIVER CROMWELL WAS THE APOSTLE OF RE- 
LIGIOUS TOLERATION, AND AS SUCH HIS NAME 
SHOULD FOREVER BE HONORED IN THE REPUB 
LIC OF AMERICA! 

The later period of the protectorate was a dreary 



J!> 



experience of the pain and trouble which attend on 
those who govern factious men. It was another evidence 
that power is not happiness, and that the highest dignities 
of the world confer no lasting happiness, and can 
never satisfy the longings of an ardent spirit. 

Oliver Cromwell did his duty after his own fashion 
and according to his own understanding, forgetful, per- 
haps occasionally, that laws made by the common 
judgement of the nation are quite as essential as the 
individual inspirations of even the wisest rulers. If he 
did not die the death of a martyr, he in some degree 
lived the life of a martyr, and faced his difficulties with 
an heroic soul that would not acknowledge defeat. 

HIS DEATH 

The time came when our Hero must die, and this, 
perhaps, was the noblest scene of his eventful life. 
He had lived with freedom of conscience in his heart, 
and he died with freedom of conscience in his heart, 
praying in the sublimity of death, that God would give 
the British People, as he termed it, "consistency of judg' 
ment — one heart and mutual love," (the brotherhood 
of man?) interceding, as it were, with Him who had 
been his own protector for those who had not seen so 
clearly into the Invisible World, and praying as all 
good Englishmen and Americans should pray, that 
God would pardon those who desired to trample on 
his dust. 

So died the greatest ruler of Britain on the 3d of 



30 



September, 1658. As Thomas Carlyle says, "THE 
BRAVEST AND MOST SUCCESSFUL HERO THAT 
ENGLAND HAS EVER SEEN— A MAN WHO 
STANDS ALONE IN THE HISTORY OF HIS COUN- 
TRY,- YET AN ENIGMA, WHICH ALL MEN GUESS 
AT, YET NONE ARE AGREED ABOUT THE 
ANSWER." 

Cromwell was taken ill at the royal palace of 
Hampton Court, on August 12th, 1658, of a fever 
partly brought on, perhaps, by his excessive grief at the 
death of his favorite daughter, Lady Claypole. He 
removed to Whitehall and there he expired on the 
third of September, in the sixtieth year of his age, hav- 
ing held the sovereignty, under the title of Lord 
Protector, for four years, eight months and eighteen 
days. It was the anniversary of his two great victories 
at Dunbar and Worcester, and the same day 
happened the greatest storm of wind ever known in 
England. 

On the 23d of November, the state funeral took 
place, with great pomp in Henry VII's Chapel in 
Westminster Abbey. The casket containing the body 
had been privately deposited sometime before in the 
Abbey, and it was only the effigy that lay in state at 
Summerset House, and to which the official and cost- 
ly honors were paid. 

RESTORATION OF THE STUART DYNASTY 

In 1660 the "Restoration" of the Stuart dynasty took 
place, for which the English Church up to a recent 



31 



date, still gave thanks, as an "unspeakable mercy," and 
on the 30th of January, 1661, the bodies of Oliver 
Cromwell, Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw — who 
with 56 other members of parliament ("regicides" so- 
called) had all signed the death-warrant of King 
Charles 1 — were drawn upon sledges to Tyburn. 
The account is given in the newspapers of the time as 
follows: "When these three carcasses were at Tyburn, 
they were pulled out of their coffins, and hanged at 
the several angles of the triple tree, where they hung 
till the sun was set, after which they were taken down, 
their heads cut off, and their loathsome trunks were 
thrown into a deep hole under the gallows. The 
heads of these three notorious regicides, Oliver Crom- 
well, John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton are set upon 
poles on the top of Westminster Hall by the common 
hangman, Bradshaw is placed in the middle, Crom- 
well and his son-in-law, Ireton, on both sides of 
Bradshaw." A live ass may kick a dead lion. 

As Speaker Clark of the U. S. House of Represen- 
tatives has said, "It has taken England some 250 years 
to rise to an appreciation of Oliver Cromwell's 
greatness sufficiently to erect a life-size, bronze monu- 
ment to his memory in the grounds of the Houses of 
Parliament." 

The Earl of Manchester, in a formal letter to the 
House of Lords, under date of December, 1644, as 
Commander-in-chief of the Parliamentary army, writes 
of Cromwell as follows: "Lieftenant-general Cromwell 



32 



knows that I alwaies placed him in the chiefest esteeme 
and creditt with mee. But his expressions were some- 
times against the Nobilitie, — that he 'hoped to live to see 
never a nobleman in England,* and he 'loved such better 
than others because they did not love lords. 7 He hath 
further expressed himself with contempt of the assembly 
of divines whom he termed persecutors." Is not our 
Hero, therefore, really one of the Founders of the 
modern Republic of the United States of America? 

CROMWELL'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE 

Sir Philip Warwick describes Cromwell as he first 
appeared in Parliament in the year 1628, when but 
twenty-eight years old, as follows: 

"I came into the House one morning, well-clad, and 
perceived a gentleman speaking whom I knew not, 
very ordinarily appareled, for it was a plain cloth suit, 
which seemed to have been made by an ill-country 
tailor. His linen was plain, and not very clean, and I 
remember a speck or two of blood upon his little-band 
which was not much larger than his collar. His hat 
was without a hatband. His stature was of a good 
size, — his sword stuck close to his side, — his counte- 
nance swoln and reddish, — his voice sharp and un- 
tunable, and his eloquence full of fervour. He was 
much hearkened unto.'' 

Thomas Carlyle, in his "Oliver Cromwell", writing 
of his appearance at the time of his installation as Lord 
Protector, quoting contemporaneous data, says: 

"His highness was in a rich but plain suit, — black 



velvet, with cloak of same, — about his hat a broad 
band of gold. . . . Stands some five feet ten or more, 
a man of strong, solid stature, and dignified, now partly 
military carriage; the expression of him valour and 
devout intelligence, — energy and delicacy on a basis of 
simplicity. . . . Fifty-four years old, ruddy-fair com- 
plexion, bronzed by toil and age, light brown hair and 
moustache are getting streaked with gray. . . . Mas- 
sive stature, big massive head, of somewhat leonine 
aspect, wart above the right eyebrow* nose of consider- 
able blunt, aquiline proportions, strict yet copious lips, 
full of all tremulous sensibilities, and also if need were, 
of all fierceness and rigours; deep, loving eyes, call 
them grave, call them stern, looking from under those 
craggy brows, as if in life-long sorrow, and yet not 
thinking it sorrow, thinking it only labour and endeavor; 
on the whole, a right noble lion-face and hero-face, 
and to me royal enough." 

It may be added, parenthetically, Cromwell was 
exceedingly fond of music. 



*See death'mask. — A. L. H. 



34 



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